Hasselblad 500 C/M | XP2 @ 400 | f11

Another shot of the alleys of Venice in B&W.

Hasselblad 500C/M | XP2 @ 400 | f11

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is perhaps the center of attraction in Florence. This Gothic style church has an amazing exterior of white, pink and green marble topped with a magnificent dome which dominate the Florentine skyline. The dome weighs more than 37,000 tones and was built by 4 million over bricks. Reaching the top will reward you with a breathtaking 360 degrees panoramic view of the whole of Florence. That is, if you are not out of breath by the 464 steps up.

SMALL-SENSOR QUALITY 2009

Following my ‘AR’-style post of a few days ago, this is in repsonse to a few requests for the ’saturated’ version of this F200EXR image, without the posterisation effect from the DxO FilmPack Polachrome simulation.

One great advantage of small-sensor cameras – whether F200EXR, LX3,CX1 or a swathe of others – is that they always exhibit great depth-of-field, even at their largest aperture :

F200EXR  : f3.3 at 28mm equivalent

LX3 : f2 at 24mm equivalent

CX1 : f3.3 at 28mm equivalent

This makes small-sensor cameras absolutely ideal for shooting subjects like architecture & landscapes, or for maintaining decent depth-of-field in night & low-light shots, where the camera’s maximum aperture is needed to let the light in.

Add to this the huge benefit these days of in-built image stabilisation – whether sensor-shift or optical IS – and the result is a very useful photographic tool that supplements an SLR very well. On some occasions, it’s definitely my preference – usually no need for a tripod – and in 2009, the results can be very impressive.

Certainly a far cry from my first Fuji 0.95 Mp (!) digital clunker that was pretty well only able to produce thumbnails through to 6×4 at a push !

The market is maturing well, and 2009 has seen some excellent & innovative compacts, SLRs that are more highly-specced with better high-ISO capabilities than ever before, and more recently, the new ‘Hybrids’ …Micro Four-Thirds cameras such as Panasonic G1/GH1/GF-1, and of course the Olympus E-P1.

So far, I own several compacts and SLRs ….But why no hybrid (yet)?  

See my next post for why I’m holding off (for now!)

For those using, or interested in using a DSLR system, take a look at http://nikonpro.wordpress.com

Many small- (and large!-)sensor camera images at http://nickbland.zenfolio.com  and much more information for the camera-inquisitive at http://1001noisycameras.com

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Boat, at Burano Island.

Hola, ahora traigo algo acerca de fedora, este sistema operativo basado en Linux incluye lo ultimo en software libre y codigo abierto.

En lo personal yo lo acabo de instalar, apenas antier me baje su version Fedora 11: Leonidas (gnome), y el aspecto ya saben que es identico a ubuntu por ser gnome.

algunas caracteristicas sobre esta distro es que los comando cambian y el modo de agregar nuestros repositorios tambien.

Lo Bueno: si te interesa experimentar con otro tipo de distros o simplemente quieres cambiar, entonces te recomiendo utilizar Fedora.

Lo Malo: Una vez instalado fedora en nuestro disco duro, tenemos que actualizar nuestras librerias y demas (updates). bueno el punto es que yo lo instale ayer y me salio que tenia que descargar cerca de 900 mb en puros updates, asi que si tienes que esperar algo para poder utilizarlo.

si te interesa conocer mas acerca de este facinante Sistema te dejo su pagina

XA | BW400CN | f11

Hasselblad 500C/M | XP2 @ ISO 400 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Edges is part of an on-going study of geometry and lines. This particular diptych is taken at Putrajaya sometime back.

]]> http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/st-peters-square-vatican-city/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:24:05 +0000 yoong http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/st-peters-square-vatican-city/

Lx3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

St. Peter’s Square, re-designed by Bernini, is an elliptical piazza built for the purpose of ensuring that it can accommodate the maximum number of people when the Pope gives his blessing. Spanning 240 metres across, it is a truly amazing area in the walls of the Vatican City. Whether you are one of the 1 billion Catholics coming here to worship in the St. Peter’s Basilica or simply a tourist, this magnificent piazza will definetely leave you breathless.

I am not the sort of person who believes in discriminating against people on the basis of class or wealth. I mention this not to pat myself on the back but to illustrate that the sentiments I will proceed to put forward do not merely arise out of social prejudice. Wealth cannot be used as a measure of character; but sadly in our country it is a fair estimation. Yet a poor person is as much entitled as one born to wealth to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. However, an incident today, forcefully brought back the Victorian saying that classes should not mingle, and I was forced to concede that there might actually be some wisdom in that bit of good old fashioned snobbery.

The city of Islamabad has lately made a push to develop its parks. It is indeed a laudable ambition and one that has been executed quite well, despite the Pakistani way of screwing everything up. Community parks have sprung up to provide recreation for the surrounding families and their numerous brats and provide a place of exercise for the men and women who can neither afford nor bother with health clubs and gyms. One such community park clearly demonstrates the point I wish to make.

This particular park is located next to a great number of apartment complexes that have sprung up in the F-11/1 sector of Islamabad. Within a year the city council has developed this poorly kept park to one with a nicely equipped play area for the little kiddies and a well paved walkway for those more exercise-inclined. Tasteful benches provide ample seating area for the weary walker and chaperon. A nice little place to indulge in a little fresh air at the end of a long day, especially for the mothers and their brats, who’ve been cooped up in apartments all day long.

But this little piece of heaven is also infested by a parasite; a parasite that plagues much of Pakistan. Yes, I speak of the large hordes of uneducated, lower class men who spend much of their life on the sidewalks and roadsides staring at life and the occasional woman go by. Where do they come from in a nice neighbourhood like F-11? Why they come from the apartments. They are your cooks, drivers, servants, nannies, and the labourers from the numerous construction sites in the area. Every evening they swarm to the little park, unclean, unshaven, for smoke, gossip and an ogling fest.

If still some believe this to be the rant of a snobbish woman, I shall lay the observations from an evening that I recently spent there. As I crossed the street to the park with my mother and brother, I could see that the vultures had settled down for their evening out. The thought passed my mind that the city should clean out this riff raff- followed immediately by a remonstration that even the workers were entitled to an evening out in the park. Yet as I set off down the track, I found it harder and harder to stick to principles of social equality. The track was lined by groups of mostly young and middle aged men in groups; sitting or lounging on the grass, and occupying most of the benches. It was the part of the evening when the sun has begun to go down, and the heat and glare has mellowed out to a warm pleasantness. Children and their attendant maids and the occasional family were out in force to enjoy the swings, the slides and the sandpit. Yet as I walked by the swings I noticed that most were occupied by the grown men, wildly trying to make the swings go higher and higher; some, standing instead of sitting on the seats. Even the see-saw, that most childish of amusements, was not safe from these strange men, as two pot bellied men leered at me from one.

Within a few minutes of my being there, my irritation at being ogled at by a swarm of dirty men had turned to outraged anger. Every time I would go around the tiny track, 10s of pairs of eyes would follow my progress and the progress of every female, out for a little fresh air. Young mothers, maids, girls, all were a feast for their hungry eyes, as they lounged at their ease on the grass. Having spent a lifetime suffering from this social problem, I was infuriated at this further invasion of one of the few places left for women to go to. Not to mention that I found it utterly ridiculous to have so many men in an area full of young kids.

The Fatima Jinnah Park which is only a few minutes away, suffers from a similar infestation. There the problem is less offensive because the park is big enough to absorb all sorts of visitors. Serious walkers and joggers discourage the ambler and the ogler from rambling on the tracks and the meandering, sheltered route of the pathways further distances the walkers from the wastrels. But in a small community park, these low income, worker class men outnumber those out for some innocent amusement and make a perfectly healthy exercise an exercise in psychological abuse.

To ban this fraction of our society from visiting these places is obviously unjust. But serious thought should go into solving this problem. A possible solution is to set aside time in the eve

ning only for families and kids and open the place to public at a later hour of the evening. A guard or a couple, to ensure that the swings and slides are us

ed by the kids and not by overgrown baboons would not only enable the intended users from enjoying the facilities but would ensure that they remain intact longer. Perhaps with some more awareness they might even manage to prevent people spitting on the ground they walk and sit on. But maybe that’s hoping for too much.

Feryal Khawar-2007

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

View from the piazetta San Marco. It is not surprising how people equate Venice with romance if you are here. As the evening arrive, the sunlight fall on Venice like a blanket of gold, giving the city a magical glow.

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Take the gondola or simple stroll along the canals to take in the sights, sounds of Venice and most importantly, the feeling that this incredible city will leave you with. You will be left in awe at the experience of Venice, the city of water.

]]> http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/drying-laundry-burano/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:00:28 +0000 yoong http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/drying-laundry-burano/

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Burano, a tiny island off Venice, is an absolutely charming little town. Famed for its lace-making industry, the most eye catching feature of Burano is the brightly painted buildings. There seem to be every shade of bright colors in this town from blue to pink. Tourists flock here and crowd the main streets where the local restaurants and souvenir shops are located, but the alleys and canals permit anybody to explore Burano a little further. Behind the tourist attractions, the bright colors of Burano seem to rub off on the local residents who were equally friendly and charming.

Here is a photo of laundry being dried under the summer’s heat.

]]> http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/silhouette-in-florence/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:34:40 +0000 yoong http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/silhouette-in-florence/

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Walking though Florence is like walking through a history book. Famously known as the birthplace of the artist Michaelangelo Buonarotti, evidence of the Renaissance movement can be seen everywhere. The city is littered with amazing architecture and intricate sculptures. The photo above is just one of the many sculptures around Florence, taken as a silhouette with part of a church against the Florentine sky.

]]> http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/venice-early-morning/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:18:16 +0000 yoong http://yoongkhean.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/venice-early-morning/

LX3 | ISO 80 | f11

click on the image for a larger size

Trying to navigate Venice using a map is an exercise in futility. The streets crisscross is no apparent arrangement and the numbering are completely un-readable. But getting lost in Venice is the perfect introduction to this city. Canals cut across the streets and alleys, providing a picturesque scene for thousands of tourists that come here every year. With gondolas sailing along the canals and tiny little alleys that reveal the true charm of the city behind the tourist attractions, Venice is a city like no other.

I took this in the early morning, before the hustle and bustle of tourists and locals started. This is the Grand Canal, the biggest and longest canal intersecting Venice.

]]> http://grey488.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/trying-out-fedora-11-x86_64-usb-live/ Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:22:47 +0000 grey488 http://grey488.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/trying-out-fedora-11-x86_64-usb-live/

I have tried creating a fedora11 live usb using the x86_64 version running on a 64bit machine.

* I was amazed on how fast it loads. 15secs.
* The installation was easy with the use of liveusbcreator for windows.
* I will be using Fedora again!!!!!
(I have encountered problems with fedora 5 and 8 on the past).
* I definitely recommend using fedora, from the very start of using linux, I really liked redhat.
* Please try, it’s cool.

Este procesador da la sansación de escribir en una película ochentera. Soy Harrison Ford, en “Juego de Patriotas”… está top… me encantó, se ganó review ^^

La excusa y la gracia de este “escritor” es que elimina las posibles distracciones que los procesadores de texto tienen hoy en día… nada de formatos, ni espaciados extraños, menos colores y que decir de imágenes.

Ideal para quienes necesitamos concentrarnos y nos distraemos con cualquier cosa (facebook, twitter, foros, flickr, imdb, etc.)

F11 y charaaaaaaan… tenemos pantalla completa, ni se imaginan cómo se ve en una pantalla plana de 29” wow…

Guarda los documentos automáticamente, puedes enviarlos por mail, descargarlos en txt o pdf, crearte una cuenta para mantenerlos en línea y tiene un muy útil contador de palabras. ES ES TU PEN DO.

Por supuesto que tienes la posibilidad de elegir y personalizar en algunas formas el texto. Color: Verde, Ámbar, Blanco, Gris claro, Gris medio o Gris oscuro, el espaciado de línea: simple, 1.5 y doble (los clásicos) y las fuentes: Monospace (fixed width), Sans-serif (proporcional) y Serif (proporcional)

La invitación es a probarlo, mejor si tienen un cigarro en la boca, un café en el escritorio y visten impermeable y sombrero.

Aún tiene algunos problemas al guardar el pdf, pero imagino que los chicos de BigHugeLabs están arreglándolo.

Y a donar, para que estas aplicaciones gratuitas sigan creciendo, sus desarrolladores necesitan de nuestras donaciones.

Writer, BigHugeLabs

Ni me pregunten por qué pensé en esas imágenes (las cinematográficas) para este post, es sólo lo que me ‘llegó’ de esta aplicación.

In Understanding Shooting Modes (Part-I, II and III) I explained some of the auto and advanced modes. I’ll explain other available modes like Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Macro, and Night in this part.

Other Modes

In today’s cameras many other modes exist which I will be briefing out below. Availability and indication of these modes depends upon brand to brand. These modes are basically preprogrammed modes provided by your camera manufacturer.

 Portrait Mode

This mode is mostly represented by a head-and-shoulders icon. It creates a shallow depth-of-field thus throws out the distracting background. Turn the dial to use this mode and your camera will take care of everything else.

 Landscape Mode

This mode is mostly represented by a mountain icon. It produces a maximum depth-of-field allowing lens to capture everything….

In Understanding Shooting Modes (Part-I and Part-II) I explained Auto, Programmed and Aperture Priority Mode, I’ll explain and illustrate one of the other advanced modes called Shutter Priority Mode in this part.

Shutter Priority Mode

This mode lets you choose the shutter speed and the camera chooses the appropriate aperture (lens opening) for proper exposure.

Why to use Shutter Priority Mode?

Shutter priority will allow you to control how you capture your subject in motion. This mode is used when you want to increase or decrease the amount of blurring in the picture, the blurring is due to the motion of either the subject or the camera shake.

Try It

Visit some waterfall and experiment the following:

Slow Shutter Speed

1. Mount the camera on a stable tripod.
2. Turn your camera’s exposure mode dial to Shutter Priority.
3. Lower down the shutter speed to 1 Sec (or any thing above 1 Sec).
4. Focus the waterfall and press shutter release button.

Result Cameras shutter will allow light to fall on the sensor for….

In continuation to Understanding Shooting Modes (Part-I) where I described the Auto and Programmed Modes, I’ll explain and illustrate one of the advanced modes called Aperture Priority Mode in this part.

Aperture Priority Mode

This mode lets you choose the aperture (lens opening) and the camera chooses the appropriate shutter speed for proper exposure.

Just like human’s eyes, lens of a camera has an opening called iris that opens and closes according to automatic or manual settings. This in optical terms also referred as “Aperture”. Changing the aperture settings changes the size of the opening which controls the amount of light the lens passes through to the image sensor.

Why to use Aperture Priority Mode?

This mode is used when you want to have control over depth-of-field. This is measured in f-stops i.e. f/1.4, f/1.8, etc. Higher f-stop numbers indicate smaller aperture and vice-versa.

The “f-number” is the ratio of distance from the sensor/ film to the optical center of the lens in your camera. When you buy a lens for your camera, it will have a number on it, something like 18mm, 55mm, 105mm, etc. These numbers are called as focal length.

To put all of this simple, when the aperture of a 200mm lens (focal length) is 50 mm (aperture opening) wide, your f-stop will be f/4, because the ratio of 200/50 equals four. If you “stop down” your aperture to half that size – 25 mm wide – your f-stop will be f/8. (200 divided by 25.) So the “f-number” gets larger as you let in less light.

Today’s advance digital cameras basically perform automatically many of the tasks necessary for capturing a photo. The Auto mode or the Programmed mode is always a good option for beginners to shoot any scene. However, these modes don’t always produce up to the mark results. If you really want to utilize the power of your DSLR, you must learn and practice all the available modes.

Before discussing any of the available modes, we should understand exposure. Exposure is basically amount of light allowed to fall on photographic film (in case of a film SLR) or on image sensor (in case of a DSLR). The amount of light in a camera is controlled by setting the combination of Aperture and Shutter.

Auto (Point-and-Shoot) Mode

In Auto mode, it’s the camera that makes decision on what amount of light is allowed to fall on the sensor. Today’s digital cameras are intelligent enough to run their own algorithms to attain a best calculated aperture and shutter speed combination based on the projected scene. You don’t have to do anything more than to press the shutter release button. This method is also referred to as the “Point-and-shoot mode”.